Maybe Someday
by justplayingaround
Summary: This is my first time actually letting people read what I have written. Ok, um... formerly a series of interludes, it now appears to be becoming a story. However, I am not sure what about. I will update this as soon as I know.
1. The Best Way to End a School Day

I still was shocked and happily surprised whenever I saw Jesse walking towards me, and saw people getting out of his way and him getting out of theirs. Most people wouldn't think that this was a miracle, but then again, most people haven't gone through what we have.

He was walking towards me now, as I was getting ready to go home from school. I was so glad that I had just gotten back from the bathroom, and had already brushed my hair, re-applied my lip-gloss, and put on that all-important bit of mascara. Not too much, after all, he had just come to take me home from school, not out to dinner or anything. Not yet anyway.

"Querida," he said, smiling down at me. He kissed me quickly (Jesse isn't big on the whole PDA thing, a holdover from his previous life, I guess.), and then looked around. "Ready to go?" I looked around me to see if I had forgotten anything. As I did so, I saw Kelly Prescott and Paul making out in front of her locker. However, Kelly didn't have her eyes closed; they were firmly fixed on Jesse and me. I smiled smugly; I know that Jesse is the absolute hottest guy in Carmel. No, make that California. "I'm ready," I said, picking up my book bag and purse, feeling Kelly's eyes digging into my back, and loving every second of it. Jesse, like the 19th century gentleman he is, took my book bag from me and we walked to his car. He had gotten his driver's license a week before, with the assistance of the ever helpful Father Dom who had faked a birth certificate.

Jesse opened the car door for me, and then strolled around to the driver's side. I smiled as I watched him go. You could totally tell that he loved being alive again. Hey he wasn't the only one that was utterly elated that he was breathing again. Jesse opened the door, and slid into the driver's seat. Seeing me looking at him, he raised an eyebrow. "Do ha have something on my face?" he asked with a smile. He knew that he didn't. He started the car, and drove to a scenic overlook, where we could be "alone."

"What time do you have to be home, Querida?" Jesse asked. "Oh, I don't have to be home for at least and hour, why?" I said, feigning innocence of his intentions. "Oh, no reason at all," he said with a slightly wicked smile. "I know something we could do to pass the time, though." "Oh, you do?" I said, shifting in my seat, knowing what was coming.

Jesse took hold of my face and kissed me. We continued to kiss for a while. Slowly, his hand crept around my waist. Not minding at all, I slid my hand under his shirt, feeling his chest. To my surprise, he was so wrapped up in what we were doing that he didn't make a move to stop me. His hand slowly pushed up the hem of my shirt. I kissed him harder, and his hand climbed higher. He touched my bra, lightly, and then retreated a bit. I didn't hold back at all, I leaned harder into the kiss, and, to my amazement, his hand dipped into my bra, and then unfastened it. The kissing didn't stop though. It was the first time I had been to second base, and I am guessing the first time he had also. I decided to do a bit more on my part, hugging his stomach tightly. That brought him out of the trance he was in, much to my chagrin.

"Oh, Querida," he said, breathing hard, "My apologies." "Sorry for what?" I asked, reassembling my underwear and straightening my clothing. "We cannot do this," he said, "It wouldn't be right. I will take you home now."

I can tell you one thing: That particular interlude gave me hope for the next time.


	2. Bees and Boys

After Jesse dropped me off at home, telling me that he would be there at seven o' clock to pick me up, I walked inside, expecting to see an empty living room. After all, it was almost dinnertime, so Andy would be in the kitchen cooking. My mother would be sitting at the table talking to him. David would be in his room studying (obviously), and Brad would have already done something and would be sulking in his room. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the living room and found my entire family in there.

Brad was looking sulky (no surprise there), and David just looked like…well, David. Andy was sitting across from Brad, glaring a bit. My mother was sitting next to Andy, serene as always." Family meeting, I presume?" I said dryly, as I stood in the doorway.

"Not exactly," said Andy shortly, still staring hard at Brad, "_Someone_ left their window open all day today in order to get his room cooler, and instead, a whole hive of bees build a nest in his light fixture." My, mother laid her hand on Andy's arm, obviously in an effort to get him to calm down. "I'm sure that it was an accident," she said soothingly. I could tell who the culprit was, obviously, but looking closer at Brad, I could notice red marks on his arms where bees had stung him. Andy had similar marks. "Is the whole upstairs infested?" I asked delicately, as it seemed that Andy was about to explode.

"Brad's room is uninhabitable until Monday, when the exterminators can come out here and get rid of the swarm. The ventilation to David's room is connected to Brad's and I can't risk any bees getting into David's room." David nodded enthusiastically "I'm allergic," he said, "It is estimated that between one and two million people in the United States are allergic to the _Apis mellifera ligustica_, the common bee of North America. Between ninety and one hundred people are reported to die from bee stings annually, but the number in actuality is most likely much higher as many of these, sting-related deaths are misreported as heart attacks, heat stroke, and other conditions."

As usual, we all stared at him wordlessly for a few moments, me and my mother with our mouths hanging open a bit, and then returned to the earlier conversation that we had been having. "Anyway, Brad and David will have to sleep in Jake's room this weekend, as I have no inclination to have David swell up to three times his size. Brad, however…" Andy sighed, and then looked up again. "And what is the lesson we have taken from all of this, people?" We all muttered about how we should all keep our windows closed when we are not in our rooms. "Good," Andy said, standing up, "Meeting dismissed."

I turned to my mother as Andy walked into the kitchen and said, "I am going to go get ready for tonight." I was already assessing my situation. I had about two hours to take a shower, pick out an outfit and in general make myself look fabulous for my date with Jesse.

My mom said "Goodness, I had forgotten all about that, Susie. It has been a while since he asked if it was all right to take you out. How are you two doing?" Mom and Andy were very fond of Jesse, as he was the most polite boy that they had ever met. No surprise considering that the only boy that they had around to compare him with was Brad, who had the tact and intelligence of a gorilla. No, the gorilla was more tactful and intelligent than Brad.

"We are very happy together." I said, smiling slightly. It was true, though. Jesse and I were so much closer now that he was, well, alive. Part of it was that he could do normal things, like seeing a movie, or driving. The other was that everyone thought that he was awesome, and wanted to know why I had been hiding him. It made everything seem more normal. Of course there was always the disadvantage that I couldn't tell people the truth about how we had met and everything. Nonetheless, everything still awesome.

"Well, you had better get ready!" said my mom with a knowing smile, and I made my way up to my, thankfully bee-free, room. I quickly took a shower, and blow-dried my hair. Wrapped in a bathrobe, I surveyed my wardrobe. Being as this _was_ California, it was about seventy-five degrees outside, but, being as we were near the ocean, it often got much colder at night. I picked out a long skirt in a silky fading blue material and a white tank-top, covered with a jacket that was black with pinstripes of the same blue color. Instead of straightening my hair, I just let it curl into its normal mass of loose ringlets, and then put half of it up into one of those messy, yet elegant buns. I peered at myself in the mirror, twisting so that I could see every angle. Just right, I decided; not too dressy, but just enough to impress.

The doorbell rang just as I was putting the final touch on my makeup. My mother called up the stairs, "Susie, Jesse is here!" "Coming!" I yelled back. I quickly put on some light-pink gloss, slipped on some strappy heeled black sandals, grabbed my Prada purse, surveyed my appearance once more in the mirror, tucked a stray hair into place, and set off down the stairs.

I was fully satisfied with my appearance when I saw the look on Jesse's face. He smiled in a fully appreciative manner as I came down the stairs. "You look beautiful Susannah," he said as I walked over to him. "You don't look too bad yourself," I said, admiring his dark grey pants and crisp white shirt. He handed me a bouquet of flowers, which I sniffed happily, and then handed to my mother to put in water.

Snapping out of his admiration of my appearance, Jesse turned to my mother and Andy, who had left cleaning up to see us off. "I will have her home by ten o'clock," Jesse said to Andy. "Oh, it's Friday night, make it eleven," Andy said, smiling at me. Have I mentioned how much I have come to appreciate my step-father? Jesse also looked pleased by the thought of an extra hour in my company.

Jesse and I said our farewells, and closed the door behind us. We stopped on the front step, and looked at each other. "Hi," he said very quietly. "Hi," I said just as quietly. "Shall we?" he asked, offering me his arm. "But of course," I said, accepting the arm, and, formalities being out of the way, we began making our way down the path to his car. On the way, we met Debbie Manicuso who appeared to be on her way to our front door.

"Hey Suze, and…Jesse, right?" she said, batting her eyelashes at the latter. Jesse assented, looking amused at the look on my face. OK, I know that he is the hottest guy from around these parts, but I was not happy to watch every girl falling all over herself in front of him. Seeing that Jesse was not going to respond to the apparent eye-spasm that she was having, she asked "Is Brad home?"

"He's home, but I don't know is he is allowed to go out. You could try, though." My God, anything to keep her away from Jesse. Not that I don't have absolute trust in him. I just never know what Debbie will do, although she appears to be obsessed with my step-brother. "Well, I'll just go and talk to your father," she said, her eyes still on Jesse. "You do that," I said, automatically in my mind thinking _Andy is my **stepfather**, not my father._ We parted ways, Jesse opening my door for me, and settling into his own seat. He smiled at me, and then started the car. We were off, and thankfully, alone.


	3. Date, Interrupted

Jesse drove to a small Italian restaurant that we liked and often frequented on our dates. Like all restaurants in Carmel, this one had an outdoor seating area, the better to take advantage of the breeze and ocean views. This restaurant also arranged its tables in such a way as to allow the patrons quite a bit of privacy, being far enough apart that eavesdropping was difficult. This was always useful for me and Jesse, as occasionally mediator business came up when we were together.

The hostess led us to a table by the edge of the patio, and placed two menus on the table as Jesse pulled out my chair for me. The women smiled at us and said, "You too are an adorable couple." Jesse smiled at me and said, "Oh, that is all Susannah, it is not due to me at all." The hostess smiled even wider as she saw how I flushed at Jesse's words.

As the hostess walked away and the waiter walked towards us, Jesse reached forward and took my hand in his. He laced his fingers through mine and I tightened my grip in response. The waiter introduced us and took our drink orders, a Coke for Jesse and an iced tea for me. As the waiter left the table Jesse asked, "Why was your stepfather covered with bee stings when I picked you up?"

"Oh," I said, grimacing a bit at the thought of the mess that awaited me at home later, "Brad left his window open today and a hive of bees moved in." I quickly laid out the rest of the story as Jesse laughed. Brad really did have a bit of value as a source of entertainment, even if he was a blot on my existence. Jesse took my hand again and we chatted about trivial things, like school, and his job at the Historical Society. He was a huge hit with visiting researchers and tourists; they really valued his ability to describe nineteenth-century Carmel as if he had really been there.

After dinner, Jesse drove to the beach and we walked by the water and talked for a while. I still hadn't gotten over the vastness and the beauty of the ocean, despite having lived in California for over a year now. I admired Jesse's profile in the light of the fading sunset as he walked next to me, my sandals dangling from his hand. It was wonderful to know that if someone stood on the cliffs overhead, they would see someone beyond me walking along the beach. I stepped a little closer to Jesse and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I looked up at his face and he smiled down at me. I shivered with happiness at the sight.

"Are you cold, Querida?" he asked in a concerned tone of voice. He made a move to take off his jacket, but I shook my head at him and wrapped my arm around his waist.

"I'm fine! Just having a really good time. I love spending time with you," I said, standing on my tiptoes to press a kiss on his mouth. He reached a hand up to steady my head, and deepened the kiss. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his head closer to mine.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself, and was starting to get a little dizzy, when I felt a tug on my skirt. I broke away from Jesse with a gasp, taking two quick steps backwards. I looked down to see a small girl with blond curls who couldn't be more that four or five years old. Unlike most children, however, this girl was glowing slightly in the dim twilight. Jesse, much more used to ghosts than I ever would be, shot me a slightly disapproving look at my reaction and knelt down in the sand to speak to the girl on her own level.

"What is your name, little one?" he asked gently, so as not to startle her.

"My name is Cory," the child said haltingly, her lower lip quivering. "The bad man hit Mommy on the head, and she fell asleep. Then he hit me, and I went to sleep. Then I woke up, but Mommy wasn't there and neither was the bad man. Have you seen my Mommy?"

I sighed deeply. It seemed as though this date was not going to be one of our more normal ones.


End file.
